DISINFO: Russia is open to a sincere dialogue with the US, while the EU wants more war
SUMMARY
Russia is open to a sincere dialogue with the US while the EU wants more war. Sergei Lavrov stated that if after Donald Trump’s victory there is an initiative from Washington to establish a sincere conversation with Russia, Moscow is in disposition to accept it. But Europe marked again its hostile and warmongering profile. EU commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius affirmed that one of the main priorities of the next European Commission will be to achieve the EU to be ready for war and be self-sufficient, and that the best investment in European security is investing in Ukraine’s safety, a clear euphemism for “we will continue feeding the Ukrainian conflict and our hostility towards Russia”.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives, aiming to deflect Russia’s responsibility for its aggression against Ukraine by portraying the war as a proxy conflict aiming to destabilize Russia and the EU as a warmongering power pushing for further confrontation.
The US cannot negotiate peace with Russia itself, as this is Ukraine’s decision to make. This message is an attempt to promote a long-term pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine’s alleged lack of sovereignty. Allegations about the impossibility of Europe’s self-sufficiency also aim to promote the message of an inevitable Russian victory, therefore eroding international support for Ukraine by framing it as a lost cause. Another goal is to create breaches and tensions in the transatlantic alliance by portraying one side as “pro-peace” and the other as “pro-war”.
Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have a track record of pretending negotiations which are, in fact, just blunt demands for Ukrainian unconditional surrender. We have analysed and exposed this disinformation tactic in several articles, especially: "Prepare for winter" (30 Nov. 2023), "Russian so-called ‘peace proposals’ are empty PR stunts" (18 Jan. 2023) , "What He Said and What it Really Means – Vol. 2: “Negotiations” (1. March 2022) and "The Kremlin security demands" (21 Dec. 2021).
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the EU is not capable of peace, it is only interested in waging war, that Kyiv and the West do not think about peace because they need war, that Ukraine is unwilling to restore peace and the West keeps the war smouldering, or that the West is a “coalition of war”.